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September is Hunger Action Month

Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas

September is Hunger Action Month.  The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas is joining food banks across the nation in a month-long initiative called “Spoontember”.  Mary Beasley is with the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas.

“We are encouraging individuals, civic groups, organizations, and others to get involved.   They can take spoon selfies and post them online with #Spoontember.  They can also send those pics to us so we can use them as well.  The spoon selfies are pictures or videos of people balancing spoons on their nose, to generate awareness about hunger.  49 million Americans and one in five people struggle with hunger here in northeast Arkansas.”

She says the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas works weekly to help provide food for those who are hungry.

“In my personal experience, I have found that a lot of senior citizens struggle with hunger and there are a lot of children that are also hungry.  A lot of people are shocked to find that their neighbors are affected by hunger daily. Food insecurity rans rampant in northeast Arkansas.  Every week, we at the Food Bank provide about 5,000 meals to families in 12 counties in the region.  We want to help raise that awareness.”

Beasley says September 3rd is a special day in the fight against hunger.

“September 3rd is Hunger Action Day.  On this day, we are asking people to wear orange and post pictures of everyone wearing orange that will help in raising awareness and remembering those who are struggling with hunger on that day.”

Beasley says through the month of September, participants can volunteer, organize a food drive, or make donations to the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas.  More information can be found here.

Johnathan Reaves is the News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.